Final Reflection 105
Ever since I was little, I have been fascinated by accents, languages, and other cultures. In high school, I began teaching myself Russian, but I didn’t go far because I didn’t have the tools I needed to succeed. The Self-Directed Language course gave me skills, as well as confidence, that I need to learn languages on my own. I learned more about the culture of my target language by taking the 105 course, than if I hadn’t. I feel confident that if I continue to learn Turkish on my own, I will continue to make progress and have success.
When I would try to learn languages on my own in the past, I wouldn’t really research the culture of that language. I have found that learning about the culture in which a language lives is necessary as well as motivating. In order to really understand the language, you have to know how it is used by the people who speak it. Learning about a culture can inspire you to travel to that country one day, so it motivates you to learn the language well enough to communicate with the locals when you travel there. Through this course, I learned what aspects of culture are important to know for that language.
I am typically more interested in languages than cultures. If it weren’t for the cultural presentations and blogs, I might have skipped over learning about Turkish culture and history. Presentation days were my favorite days in class because I became more interested in the cultures of the languages my classmates were studying.
As a linguistic minor, I have learned linguistic principles, theories, and terms. With every language class I take, I can put the theoretical aspects of linguistics into real-life practice. I am really happy with my decision to learn Turkish this semester, because it is an important and fascinating language in the field of linguistics. In every textbook, Turkish is used as examples and talked about extensively.
The tips and tricks I learned in 105 were very beneficial for autonomous language learning. I also found that the classroom environment made the experience fun. We were all there not to fulfill any sort of requirement, but because we had an interest in our target language and culture and a passion for learning new things.
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